Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, Oak Brook, returned 20.25% in 2013 on the strength of its equity and alternatives portfolio, according to preliminary numbers presented to the pension fund's board Friday.
The return was above its custom benchmark of 15.93%.
The return added $5 billion to IMRF's assets, raising the total to $33.12 billion as of Dec. 31, Janet Becker-Wold, senior vice president at investment consultant Callan Associates, said in a report to the board.
According to the preliminary data, domestic equity, with a 45% actual allocation, led in performance with a 37.62% return; its benchmark Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market index returned 33.46%. International equity, at 21% of assets, returned 20.22% vs. 15.29% for the MSCI ACWI ex-U.S. index; alternatives — comprising hedge funds, private equity, agriculture and timber — totaling 4% of assets, gained 13.64% vs. the custom benchmark's 9%; and real estate, with a 3% allocation, returned 10.14% compared to the 15.37% return of its custom benchmark.
IMRF's 26% fixed-income allocation returned -0.59% compared to the -2.02% of the Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond index.
The remaining 1% of assets is in cash.
Final returns for 2013 will be presented to the IMRF board at its Feb. 28 meeting.
